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Shān
Shān is part of the Hild system in Hex #0610 and homeworld to the Confederation of the Upright Vagrant. Shān is the metaphorical and literal end of the road. For most war refugees, outcasts, and criminals seeking to flee as far from their homes as they can, this icy planetoid is their eventual destination. An isolated border world with no law, no regime, and no hierarchy, Shān is the perfect solution for those seeking to start anew - or die trying. The Planet of Shān Shān’s distance from the Empire proper and its relative lack of uniqueness as a planetary body (at a passing glance) make it an extremely unappealing prospect for expansion. However, it was recently discovered that the rather barren planetoid held a bounty of raw minerals in her crust and surrounding asteroids, making it an ideal, if out-of-the-way, mining outpost for the powers that be. An A.C.R.E.-funded gold rush - subsequently abandoned - and a recent outburst of interstellar conflict left the world littered with extensive infrastructure for mining operations. As one of few worlds able to maintain Postech levels of advancement without the dangers of a biosphere or a lethal atmosphere, Shān is a ‘blank slate’ for refugees who want to leave their homes without plunging themselves back into the metaphorical dark ages. Physical Facts Atmosphere The atmosphere of Shān, while breathable, settles into the crevasses and canyons of the planet’s surface, forming natural ‘reservoirs’ of breathable air in lower elevation areas. Outside of these areas, one must carry a respirator and air supply in order to not asphyxiate. Magnetic Field The dense metal core of Shān and the excess of raw minerals and materials in its crust grant this planetoid a rather large magnetic field which serves to repulse all manners of micrometeorites and stellar radiation. This magnetic field, in combination with the virtual non-existent atmosphere of Shān, makes the planet ideal for visiting fleets, allowing vessels to approach much closer to the planetary surface than would be safe for other worlds. The enlarged magnetic field acts as a natural harbor for ships seeking refuge, allowing them to hang in orbit for much longer periods of time without maintenance pertaining to stellar phenomena. Geography The surface of Shān, when observed from orbit, might remind one of a turbulent ocean, the crevasses stretching beyond human sight and the mountains piercing the heavens, with these extremes alternating in chaotic patterns across the planet. These violent and irregular forms are commonly believed to be the product of energies so immense so as to be barely comprehended, flash-vaporizing oceans and casting away a once-stable atmosphere into the depths of space. The source of such energies is unknown, with no stellar bodies in proximity to Shān being able to release such raw power. Yet these features only tell half of a story - beneath the permafrost of Shān lies a gargantuan expanse of subterranean features and cave systems. Attempts to map them in their entirety have all met in failure, the bodies of explorers unlikely to be recovered from the maze of caverns, warrens, and crawlspaces made of ice and stone. Scarcity of Life A rushed observation of Shān may note an absence of life, the bleak permafrost yielding no sign of growth. Yet this observation is inherently flawed - the life of Shān dwells deep beneath the surface in subterranean waters, their bodies conformed by intense pressures, biting cold, and an utter lack of light. Little of Shān's natural biosphere remains after the flash-annihilation of the planet, but an extensive fossil record attests to an abundance of life before said catastrophe-level event. Further evidence suggests that Shān was once an ocean planet teeming with large scale aquatic organisms. The small piece of the biosphere still clinging to life are often the simplest and sturdiest designs - proven survivors. The Great Importance of Water Though water can still be found on Shān - in the deep recesses of caves far below the surface, and as frozen ice above the atmosphere line - it is an incredibly onerous task to procure, as with all things on this isolated world. The great majority of the Breuni Clan make their living by harvesting ice and trading it for essential goods. Conventional agricultural irrigation and ready access to flowing, drinkable water are not always guarantees in the self-styled cities of Shān, their jury-rigged infrastructure barely able to support their populations as is. In Orbit Velidorda Velidorda is the smaller of Shān’s lunar twins, much more akin to a layman’s mental concept of a lunar body - dusty, barren, reduced gravity, and no atmosphere. Naldoran Labs Nestled within the rock of this inconspicuous moon is the Naldoran Moonbase, a testing ground for agricultural and hydroponic practices that could destabilize the food production of Shān if handled incorrectly. With an ever-increasing population influx, the work of the minds at Naldoran ensure (a majority of) Shān’s populace doesn’t starve to death under the strain of their own numbers. Ecou The material composition of Ecou, Shān’s largest moon, is inconsistent with that of Velidorda or Shān, suggesting that the lunar body is made of various asteroids from the Souris Belt captured in its gravity well. Ecou is, to put it lightly, geologically active, with quakes and volcanic eruptions being a common occurrence. These tectonic hazards and a lack of any valuable materials make this moon an insignificant body for any visitors besides geologists. Rings The rings of Shān were supposedly formed by the jettison of debris from the collision of Shān’s dual moons, leaving a relatively thin ring of material around the planet. While the history of its formation is indeed an oddity in of itself, the rings earned their infamy as the hunting grounds of “rock-jumper” pirates, who would dwell, dock, and live among the rings to hide the signatures of their vessels before striking out at unwary passerby. The more creatively-minded patrons of Shān’s dive bars theorize that the bases of these primordial reavers might remain intact, stashed with grand stores of accumulated loot, and maybe even garrisoned by their malnourished crews, long since adapted to a lack of gravity. Flora & Fauna Flora Shānite Ice Kelp Revived in the labs of Naldoran - from DNA found in fossilized remains from Shān - 'Test Strain #0501', the keystone of Shānite hydroponics is quite simply referred to as Shānite Ice Kelp, in account of its ability to grow even in extremely cold waters. This kelp produces an excess of leaves and can mature with nearly no sunlight under several kilometers of ice. A penchant for rapid growth combined with multiple harvesting periods every year make this underwater green an ideal foodstuff for the clamoring refugees of Shānite cities. Halfwit's Fortune Amateur hydroponic farmers have a disturbingly high death rate on Shān due to the existence of ‘Halfwit’s Fortune,’ a strain of seaweed that looks almost identical to Shānite Ice Kelp, save for the red stomata on its leaves. When consumed, this strain causes violent internal hemorrhaging as a protective enzyme coating on its leaves and shoots deals significant damage to the body. These same protective measures render the Halfwit’s Fortune rather resistant to wear and tear, making it a durable, if not odd, textile material. The Recycler Known to most on Shān as ‘Recycler,’ the origins of this important fungus are unknown to all, yet its usefulness abounds. Able to reprocess and refine most waste products, such as soot and other such undesirable human products, this fungus tends to be used in place of advanced filtration systems for those too destitute to purify the air in their homes or the water in their pipes. Embermoss **WARNING: EXTREMELY HAZARDOUS!!!** It may surprise visitors to Shān to find moss not only growing on the walls of caverns, but also lining reactor chambers and toxic dump sites outside of settlements. These combined breeds of mosses are renowned for their ability to absorb not only solar rays but also most forms of hard radiation, acting as a sort of sponge for radioactivity. However, these mosses gain heat proportionally to the amount of radiation absorbed, meaning that a sample left to its own devices in an environment like an active reactor core could easily burn a hole directly through the protective casing. Thankfully it is easy to tell if such a sample is present due to the blinding bioluminescence exhibited as the moss smolders. Much to the chagrin of unlucky Shānite pilots, stellar radiation in system manages to sustain these mosses in the depths of space as it clings to the hulls of vessels. If a spike drive is attempted, the presence of extreme hard radiation in spike space will cause an almost immediate hull breach as the moss melts straight through the hull. Thusly, many crews fresh back from shore leave will find themselves sweeping their craft with super-cooled nitrous oxide ‘torches’ in order to flash-freeze off patches of glowing moss on the exterior. Fauna Giant Isopods The isopods of Shān live on the frigid seabed of the planet’s underground waters, mainly scavenging debris and organic refuse off in their path, though they are capable of limited locomotion in open water should it be necessary. The average specimen requires two hands to heft out of the water, with the largest ever recorded crushing two spelunkers to death by accident. These creatures would be disregarded by Shānite settlers if not for a need of proteins and meats in the average diet, which the common subterranean isopod fulfills quite well, described as ‘gamey’ by avid consumers of its prepared flesh. Artillery Shrimp Artillery shrimp, common to Shān, have developed a highly unique defense mechanism in order to protect themselves from predators and help catch prey. Stored within special glands at the shrimp’s back is a potassium based gel, which is excreted through special orifices in the specimen’s back. The gel, initially hanging in a protective layer, eventually comes into contact with water, at which point it violently explodes. This allows the Artillery shrimp to concuss its prey and ward off predators, along with giving a painful shock to an unwary Shānite cook if captured alive. Khuyag Beware to the untrained diver in the midnight oceans of Shān, for they might be set upon by a rabid and hungry Khuyag, their jaws strong enough to pry through a conventional dive suit and their armor thick enough to deflect unmodified blades and small caliber munitions. If this wasn’t bad enough, large clouts of ice tends to form on the natural armors of the Khuyag, making them even more durable against attacks. These forearm sized monsters have been the death of many a Shānite, tearing them to pieces under the miles of stone and ice. Keeper Beetle Colony Keeper beetles are among the most docile of Shān's creatures, yet also the strangest. The oddities begin when one realizes that the beetle is not an animal - rather, it is a different stage of life for the Recycler Fungus in the guise of a creature. Slowly grown over time by its host colony, the control of water within the construct allows for a rudimentary form of movement through contractions of said water supply. These constructs tend to, care for, feed, and protect their host colony until they reach a sufficient size for sustained travel, at which point the keeper 'beetle' will wander off to find new lodgings. The construct will then cease locomotion and use the water it has stored to jumpstart itself as a new host colony. The Underworld UNDER CONSTRUCTION History of Shān Pre-Human History The apocalyptic energies which transformed Shān forever are a popular thread of speculation from geologists and academics to drunken sailors on shore leave. The star of the Hild system is far too meager to have produced the cataclysmic power necessary, its pale light struggling against the void. Rational minds conclude that perhaps the system was caught in the outermost reaches of a quasar for a brief duration, a rather slow event from the human perspective but nearly instant on a cosmic scale. Meanwhile, the more creative minds conclude that there must have been a sapient influence behind such rapid destruction - perhaps aliens once bombed the world into a shell of itself. Perhaps an ancient tyrant unleashed a maltech device of great destruction. Or, just maybe, the Fae, in all their meddling ways, chose to strike out from their Dyson Sphere and annihilate the planet for their own twisted purposes. None can cast for certain. A.C.R.E. Mining Colony 2825 CE Beyond sparse contact with castaways, outcasts, and the occasional smuggler, the Hild system was dormant for countless eons. This silence was broken in the year 2825 CE, as a fleet of ACRE vessels thundered into the orbit of Shān, their preliminary scouts reporting a gargantuan deposit of useful, rare metals located beneath the planet’s surface and in the planetary ring. Beyond the eye of the Empire, ACRE could exploit the system’s resources with reckless abandon. So great was the bounty arrayed before them that a purpose-built orbital installment known as Montgomery Station was constructed above Shān, home to thousands of tons of mining equipment and a legion of workers to maintain the operation. Multiple bunkers and subterranean structures were cast in the planet’s bedrock to provide additional housing and space for the prospectors, their families, and the machinery to keep them alive in the barren cold, while Montgomery Station hovered above. A.C.R.E. Governance In charge of the operation was one Director Montgomery, who earned the collective ire of all employees under his command by emblazoning the new Station with his own name. This was only the start of the troubles for those who plumbed Shān’s depths, as soon wages were docked or lost, mismanagement of ore shipments abounded, planetside structures were denied basic maintenance and left to rot, and the workforce was malnourished and savaged by hired goons. Whispers of rumors spread that the reason for the poor care was due to gruesome blood-sports taking place at the behest of the Director. However, the sheer wealth of resources brought forth from Montgomery Station made sure that nothing was ever investigated. The Proto-Clans 2852 CE These injustices boiled over in the year 2852 CE, when a shift of prospectors on a routine workforce cycle on and off the planet were reported to have gone rogue, having brought a significant cache of weaponry with them from the station armory. The presiding Director, their hands full with management of the operation, shrugged off this small-scale worker rebellion, and profit margins were able to be maintained despite the new presence of raiders and looting of planetary installations for supplies and resources. These war bands were led by three charismatic leaders, their fellow warriors taking on the names of those who helped them gain bitter independence - these eventually became the Clans Abbasid, Scylfing, and Hatagin. The Synthetic Solution 3041 CE The ACRE Corporation, presumably fed up dealing with worker strikes and cannibalistic raider Clans on the surface of Shān, turned to House Cygnus's new creation for an answer to their troubles. Cycling in a new synthetic workforce who were able to work more efficiently than a human force and bring in more profit, all but a small select group of human workers - kept on to manage the new workforce - were released immediately from their contracts. Dropped to the planet's surface to huddle in ill-maintained bunkers, these former employees were thanked for their services and told that they had all that was necessary to survive, provided that they not exceed their current population. Most of these former workers died subsequently, or were incorporated into new homes within the Clans - now numbering five - as Montgomery became a remote craft in the Heavens, regarded with bridled envy by those on the barren surface of Shān. War with the Artificials 3178 CE - 3198 CE As the Cygnus War took the sector in its grip, Shān remained relatively removed from actual conflict, disregarding the raider clans and intermittent wilderness warfare. However, as a tide of displaced refugees swept outwards from the Core, they came to break on the shores of Shān, one of the most distant locations from the Core that still boasted a postech infrastructure, however meager it was. The human wave was seemingly without end, as all walks of life from war criminals and beleaguered soldiers to impoverished farmers and factory workers crested the permafrost of Shān, looking to dig in anywhere where the rock would let them start anew. A.C.R.E. Outpost Abandoned 3180 CE Despite their general negligence, the presence of the ACRE corporation in the Hild system at least provided a semblance of civilization to those planetside - and more importantly, a source of foodstuffs and resources to plunder. With their total withdrawal, the already feral planet is put to the torch, with brigands, bandits, and a pall of starvation sweeping through the mountain ranges like locusts. This was compounded by the last supply shipment destined for the mothballed project being waylaid by spaceborne debris and crashing in the remote wilderness of Shān, her supplies raked over and claimed before they could be properly distributed to hungering mouths. "House" Vagrant's Thunderous Arrival 3195 CE The skies of Shān split open one fateful morning in 3195 CE, as hundreds of pirate vessels began to spill into the Hild system, emboldened by the fresh kill of a Cygnus troop transport in the region. The flash of weaponry and detonating vessels was visible even from the surface of Shān, the meager atmosphere doing little to hide the brawl in the heavens above. Yet soon enough, the guns fell silent, and the corsairs of the Vagrant Fleet descended to the icy planetoid. While their causes were not humanitarian, the supplies, refugees, and technical expertise they brought with them helped breath new life into the shivering masses. "House" Vagrant Governance Coming Soon! The Imperial Fiefdom of Shān The Fiefdoms of the Fleet, laid out in documentation, outline a plan for the individual governance of separate planets under the Vagrant Fleet. Each of these holding is managed by a duly selected planetary governor, though their ‘election’ is rarely democratic. The duties of this governor include the enforcement of basic ordinances and taxation - though a significant amount of taxes will likely never wind up in official coffers, by virtue of the pirates collecting them. This system, robust as it is, allows for the governance of separate planets on a case-by-case basis, due to the distance between Vagrant holdings and the varied social structures that flourish under the Fleet. In the case of Shān's frozen hinterlands, one of the Confederation's Seven of Six has leveraged their power into the role of Governor. A native of the planet by way of the Free Clans, this self-styled King has made use of the fact that the Clans exercise tacit control over major population centers and the extensive knowledge of the planet's terrain and how to survive its harsh conditions to great effect in making the position of Planetary Governor more than an empty title. Though there might be a better candidate for the bureaucracy laden position in the massive 'foreign' population of Shān, it is highly unlikely any will have the necessary resources or backing to challenge him as he sweeps over Shān in attempts to "Bring it under One Domain". New Montgomery, Capital of Shān For Main Article, see New Montgomery Brought Low From Heaven For many years, the Clan Abbasid had been relegated to dwelling in hidden holdings carved into cliff faces. Yet as the year 3180 dawned with the War Against the Artificials in full swing, the Clan saw their chance in Montgomery Station, left virtually abandoned in the conflict taking sector attention elsewhere. The Abbasid’s relatively massive population was a curse and blessing - while they had a great amount of influence on the planetary surface, they could not hope to relocate their entire populace to Montgomery before the return of outside powers to the station. Thusly, rather than ascend to the heavens, it was decided to drag the heavens to earth. Bartering with the spaceborne Clan Yngling, a deal was struck for the controlled foundering of the massive establishment. As to why the Clan Yngling did not occupy this trove themselves is unknown, yet whatever price the Abbasid paid for such compliance must have been vast indeed. With all the plans set and the route calculated, the station was brought through the thin atmosphere of Shān in a pale nimbus of light, the retrograde thrusters hastily attached to her hull laboring with all their might to slow her descent. The hulk, as planned, slammed like some divine spear into the side of Mount Moriar, which was noted as a geographical anomaly due to the fact it was, in all essence, a hollow mountain. As the ground quaked and great columns of fire rose skywards, the engineers of Clan Abbasid were already approaching the crash site, in order to seal the great wound in Mount Moriar’s side and turn the entire edifice and ship, intertwined, into a new home, a new city for their Clan. Layout of the City New Montgomery originates from the wreck of Montgomery Station like a shockwave, the intact portion of the Station rising from the slopes of Mount Moriar like a drunken tower. The true city sprawls out within the hollow interior of the mountain with little direction or forethought in its construction. Towers scrape the kilometers high ceiling of the caves, and districts press hard into the interior wall, every little space being used and pressing into the next thing. Meanwhile, monorails abound everywhere, tying the entirety of the odd mountain city together in knots, from the tunnel systems below the city proper, to the city-within-city built into the summit, some carrying life-giving supplies to and fro in the young metropolis beneath the mountain. The Five Dragons Though it is an impossibility to exercise total control of New Montgomery’s winding halls and tunnels, the Clan Abbasid is the single largest faction presiding over the shipwreck city. In turn, the silk-clad legions of the Abbasid are guided by the Kaymakam, those Clansmen who have amassed sizable power in the city, usually in the form of valued boroughs and territory. The clashes between the Kaymakam are fierce indeed, as they vie for control of the city’s infrastructure, crime, and populace alike. From the ranks of the Kaymakam have risen the Five Dragons, modern warlord-kings of New Montgomery. The Dragons are loathe to leave their gloried home, instead choosing to fund and supply the Vagrant Fleet while they recline in drug fumes and chemical bliss, playing the board of Montgomery like a game of shogi. To prevent plunging their home into total war, the Five Dragons have informally divided their spheres of influence in the shipwreck city. The Resplendent Dragon of the Forbidden Flame runs a tight ship in the brothels and pleasure houses of Montgomery - wherever red light shines, there too lurk her agents, knives reflecting the crimson glow. The Vibrant Dragon of the Shifting Cloud maintains grand hydroponic operations, providing the disparate poor with opiates and narcotics abounding. Those drugs marked with the Vibrant Dragon’s seal can oft be found in noble pleasure dens, though they are likely unaware of the blood price their high carries.... The Stainless Dragon of the Stigmata Scale is the most overt of the Five, for his business is blood and charnel. Slaves and gladiators alike march to a dust-choked death in the Stainless Dragon’s fighting rings and colosseums, the scar-mapped survivors becoming paragons of cheap death and visceral entertainment in the blood sport circuit. The Shining Dragon of the Insatiable Maw keeps lit the flames of Montgomery - her hungry smelters and crackling generators. The flesh of Shān is torn apart and refined by the battalions of workers under the Shining Dragon, the metal smashed and molded into weapons of war, shot and shell… Yet all is not calm in the mockery of Heaven, for a Dragon has been brought down to earth. The Enduring Dragon of the Oppressive Eye was clubbed to death by a lone assailant in his own opium den, the assassin entering armed with but a piece of piping and dashing the Dragon’s head against his throne. Even now the details are hazy - who killed him? How are there supposed eyewitness accounts, yet no one stopped the murder? Who ordered the hit, if anyone? In this tumult, one of the vicious lieutenants of the late lord has seized power. The Insightful Dragon of the Envious Soul plies the markets and commerce of Montgomery, extorting the merchants and tapping his own share of profits from the mercantile lifeblood of the city. His reign is marred by controversy and rumor, for it is common belief that it was by his command that the Enduring Dragon was slain, though no solid evidence is forthcoming as of yet. Criminal Elements A surging refugee population, near universal poverty, and the clash of ethics, ethnics, and faiths alike - is it any wonder that New Montgomery's social fabric is interwoven with threads of the criminal world? As the Shānite Imperial Consulate breaks new ground, a new age of order is heralded for the city. The discontent talk of packing their meager belongings once more and moving to more remote locations on the icy world. The violent huddle in groups near the construction site, speaking of blood and fire. Yet as of now, the beast of New Montgomery feasts, and there is no end in sight to the debauchery. Smugglers can move their goods openly, black marketeers can hawk their wares on the streets as long as they are amply defended from thieves, and pirates meander about the alleys and bars without a care in the world. If God lives in Imperial Prime, then the Devil fled to New Montgomery - and he found it to his liking. Cities of Shān Steenmouth To call the settlement of Steenmouth a “city” is an altogether generous and overly endearing classification. The population live in ramshackle favelas of old spacecrafts, perched against a mountainside like a flock of vultures. These venerable ships are stacked atop one another and ravaged until their hulls are barely visible beneath balconies, rope bridges, and surprisingly colorful cloth whipping about in the Shānite winds. Steenmouth’s unique name purportedly comes from the ancient Steen “Rumtooth” Grizin, a smuggler decades past who supposedly consumed enough alcohol that he decided it was a swell idea to establish a permanent colony on the Shānite surface with just his crew and his trusty patrol boat. Amid these metallic pillars rove the chromed-up engineer-philosophers of the J50, esoteric chop shop modification experts and radical thinkers. Any advanced tech that cycles through Steenmouth, from ship weaponry to cybernetics, is spliced, diced, and improved by the mechanic cabal in their bays and labs. Steenmouth has also managed to draw a modest crowd of those chafing under the rule of New Montgomery, as the Free Clans of Shān have shown reluctance to move into the favela's winding corridors while under the watch of the J50's modified big guns. Redshell The enclave of Redshell - referred to as such since humans lack the proper vocal organs to produce its proper title - more closely resembles a military compound than an alien refugee encampment. The self-exiled Cah-Bihn who live within its walls are far more aggressive than their kin on Cabina, fashioning weapons of war and armored exoskeletons with which to deliver mayhem and carnage. The rare few who leave Redshell to fight alongside Vagrant crews are fearsome foes indeed, their titanic frames barely able to fit through ship corridors as they deliver death and slice through bulkheads in vicious boarding actions. This bunker enclave is entrenched in the flank of the Clan lands - several ancient borders had to be hastily reshaped when the inhabitants of Redshell made planetfall. However, the Clans quickly got over their momentary frustration, as these shelled warriors proved to be premium allies in the matters of war. In fact, these outcast warriors have struck an uneasy armistice with most if not all of the peoples of Shān - their survival in exchange for limited arms deals and protection to the nearby human populace, as they continue to produce their odd armaments day and night, the looming figures of their battle armatures heralding a preparation for some distant war. Tombwood The rough-and-tumble mining boom town of Tombwood is a prime example of the motto ‘get rich or die trying.’ The entirety of the town, its saloons and its miner barracks, are centered around the Nook, a truly massive pit mine that stands out even from the cold reaches of space like an infected wound on the planetary surface. All manner of minerals, from diamonds to raw metals for ship construction, are excavated from the walls of the mine as it grows ever larger and ever hungrier. Every year countless individuals accidentally tumble into the Nook’s waiting maw, many more purposefully thrown in as a final verdict. It is fabled by more fanciful, inebriated miners that the Nook will provide as long as it is provided for in such a manner, and, to their credit, the grand mine has not yet ceded in its flow of treasures. Running along the banks of the Nook are various processing facilities for the ores drawn up, minimizing the distance the materials need to travel , and allowing the plants to dump their burning-hot slag output directly back into the massive pit. Unfortunately, these veritably ancient refineries are overtaxed, serving as the major facilities for the world's raw mined materials, resulting in a number of casualties that are deemed acceptable when viewed alongside the great gains achieved. Rho Epsilon Conveniently located between three prominent, ore-rich mountains, the supply depot Rho Epsilon, nicknamed 'Runoff' was promptly abandoned once ACRE left the Hild system. The miners from the surrounding facilities used the well-defended and conveniently located site as a rudimentary moot ground for gatherings and meetings. As mining operations slowly resumed in the area, the collated workers decided to merely plant their flags between themselves and formed the surprisingly tight-knit community of Runoff, with the laborers watching each other's backs in the orderly, albeit eternally dirty, streets. Port Refuge Blasted out of a mountainside centuries past, the Confederation's new seat on Shān is a venerable bunker known as Port Refuge. A densely packed subterranean city of concrete walls, poorly-maintained electronics, and frigid cold. Even now, its new denizens continue to plumb the depths with blasting charges and mining drills, the quakes traveling up to the surface as they cut at the bedrock, fighting for every inch of new territory added to their home. Within its walls, the Fleet deals in untold amounts of duty-free trade, a burden shouldered by the rest of the planet for the benefits brought by the captains of the Confederation. Illicit goods especially abound, ranging from fuel and firearms to experienced slaves and exotic artifacts, anything that the heart might desire can be found far from prying eyes in these dim, reinforced tunnels. The Veiled Shipyard The cold, steel heart of Port Refuge lies at the heart of a great collection of icy veins known commonly as the Veiled Shipyard. These tunnels and winding passages, formed as lava tubes and erratically carved by water in times long past, are large enough to allow a frigate-class vessel maneuvering room within their confines (while the more troublesome corners are often whittled away with blasting charges and mining lasers). Those not familiar with the labyrinth will likely end up smashing their vessel against a tight turn or a dead end, leaving the carcass of their ship to be looted by those pirates who dwell within the hidden repair bays and storage hangars scattered throughout. The Clan Lands The Holt Built by the bleeding hands of the Clan Scylfing, the walls of the Holt contain a final promise - never again would the Scylfing be driven from their homes. The immense fortress dwarfs any other landmark on the flattened horizon, with its towers clawing at the sky. Far larger than necessary to house the whole of the Clan, the Holt has been designed with the singular purpose of withstanding any assault, and future-proofed the needs of the Clan. Every corridor is a carefully designed kill zone, every corner presents a firing angle for a defender. Alongside the implicit countermeasures, automated security systems, and randomized sweeps conducted throughout the halls, any would-be intruder would have to scale the Storm Wall, the outermost defensive layer, its ferrocrete and plasteel reinforcements turning aside orbital bombardments like chaff. Further within lies the Hell Wall, aptly titled after the First Hatagin Siege, where the wall was doused with flame and napalm as attackers scrambled up its sides. Even to this day, legend holds the silhouettes of the invaders are still faintly marked out on the Hell Wall’s surface, a grim reminder of what it means to challenge the Scylfing in their own homes. The Land of the Hatagin The Clan Hatagin are commonly referred to with such monikers as ‘The Cave Men’ or ‘The Pit Dwellers.’ While in many cases these are just insults against their supposed intelligence, they also well reflect the terrain of Hatagin lands. Their ancestral badlands are studded with shallow cave systems and sinkholes, as if some bored giant scratched idly at the rough terrain. Ice and flaked silica crunch underfoot as one treads through the valleys and over the hills of this forlorn place, the footsteps their only companion until it is far too late for escape. Breuni Convoys and Trade Outposts Any who refer to the lands of the Breuni as their ‘home’ is bound to be heckled as an uneducated fool. These modernized nomads roam the ice fields in grand motorized caravans, dragging along with them pure ice collected from mountain peaks. The movements of these caravans are closely charted by prospective captains in orbit, for when these roving bands intersect, a Breuni trading post may take root for a short while, before blowing away like chaff in the polar wind. These posts are vibrant splashes of life against the wastes, as goods are bartered, hookahs are passed about, and stories are told of past exploits. Within these conglomerates, outsiders may even be able to enlist the services of the Breuni Fiosaiche, wise men who are as adept at predicting the future as any psychic (nevermind the fact that some of these nomadic seers are precognitive themselves). When the Breuni wish to move along hidden routes, they may descend into the Night Roads, aptly-named systems of tunnels allowing for the transport of entire caravans underneath the ice. It is due to the Night Roads that rival Clans often find trouble in tracking Breuni caravans, as they seemingly disappear into cliff faces and mountainsides overnight. These interlocking tunnels and winding passages rest like veins under the Shānite surface, so voluminous in their expanse that one could feasibly travel from pole to pole without ever seeing the stars, if they were knowledgeable of the geological labyrinth. The Yngling Brisingamen Asteroid bases built like forts scattered throughout the whole of Acheron Rho. There are rumored to be Eight, each ruled over by a Matron of the Rock, though only the Yngling know the full count. Three are known for sure: Heimabjergsteinn in the Hild System, a venerable fortress and the oldest, Stjarnabjergsteinn in the nearby Benilli System, renowned for its beautiful carved hallways as much as it is as a shadowport for smugglers, and finally Hlidbjergsteinn in the Amedere Orbere system, better known as Gateway Station. Holy Site In the year 2940 CE, the icy silence of Shān was torn asunder by the crack of Hatagin guns. In a previously meager valley, more of a gulley than anything else, a united band of clansmen destined to form a new clan - one of hope and promise - was slaughtered to the absolute. So many munitions and explosives were hurled into the valley that the very ice itself melted, carrying out a crimson tide onto the icy plains. This atrocity, which would come to be known as the Battle of Red Waters, would mark the descent of Clan Hatagin and the beginning of the Bone Wars. Even to this day, the Clans remember this site as taboo ground. Surrounded by a solemn legion of corpses armored in permafrost, old and newborn alike, lies a single standing stone. Upon it , engraved in the Clan tongues, is as such - ‘Look upon our future, surrounding you, to see the mistakes of our past.’ A vigil is held over the site by Breuni rangers, day and night. Any outsiders who wander too close to the Red Waters are summarily executed, and their bodies are promptly removed so as to not defile the sacred site. Other Locales & Points of Interest Psiball Arena With war came refugees, and these bereft peoples brought with them naught but empty hands and the trappings of their cultures carried in their hearts. With these Core denizens came the popular sport of psiball, previously unheard of on Shān beyond the occasional rumor. The pastime is quickly growing to become a cult classic - the combination of physical prowess and the flamboyance of psychic talent appeals to both Clansman and refugee alike. The Sixth Dragon Stadium, occupying a rather central position in New Montgomery, is surrounded by legions of fans when the local teams compete, for it is an icon of better times and a distraction from the drudgery of city life. Shān's propensity for hard-hitting brawls has birthed a new breed of players, not afraid to get physical on the court if victory demands it - none exemplify this philosophy more than the wild Tector Broden, commonly hailed as an upcoming star in the psiball circuit. Woe be to any offworld team that competes on Shān, for New Montgomery hasn't yet been host to a professional game, and the festivities for such a match would surely shake the earth itself. The Shān Spikers Coming Soon! The Shānite Institute Many outsiders see Shān as "completely barbaric" and "incapable of higher arts and learning." While this may be true in certain cases, the Shānite Institute for Black Hole Research stands as a beacon on the hill for those Shānites inclined to the field of postech astrophysics. The Institute's physical housing is in a rather poor state of repair, located within a rather isolated ferrocrete facility near the peak of Mount Moriar. The venerable scientists of the Institute have spent decades studying the properties of SQA 067-98, the resident black hole of the sector south, attempting to ascertain practical uses for its gravitational properties and unique energy signature. In addition, the Branch of Antediluvian and Fossil Records Post-Incident seeks to discover to exact cause of Shān's mysterious and rapid demise through analysis of the planet itself and the creature remnants buried deep in the permafrost… Rumors The precise scientific equipment required for the functions of the Institute are by no means cheap. Often, shady figures will be seen sorting through piles of unmarked Imperial credits in vacant Institute store rooms, and every once in a while an inconvenient body might find itself vaporized using their high-intensity laser focusing setups. The day afterwards, the pockets of the professors bulge with neatly folded wealth. However, the Confederation herself has seen fit to invest in the Institute's workings, in order to open the newly christened Branch For Development of Esoteric Navigational Methods and Efficiency Measures. A navigational suite beholden to the Fleet alone, while likely a pipe dream, is simply too lucrative an opportunity to ignore. Greenblood Spire Greenblood Spire, currently the Shānite gathering place of the Seven of Six, was once the planetside lodge of the late Director Montgomery. The Director wished to have planetary property so as to "relax in comfort on my personal fucking planet" and "watch the workers toil." When Shān was hastily evacuated, workers found several tins of ammunition and a long-range rifle stored on the balcony of the lodge, with a line of sight on the previous site of the workers communes in the valley below. Despite the...morbid ideas that these findings suggested, the lodge was still a generously luxurious structure even after the interior was looted to the bone. And to coin the piratical mantra - what's yours is ours, after all. The Scything Range A range of mountains that are brutally jagged even for Shān. Common belief among Shānites is that the Scything Ridge cannot be crossed on foot, but only be flown over. The western boundary of the Free Clans territories, these jagged peaks stretch over 15,000km and boast an average height of 8 km. The range earned its named by the bizarre curvature they hold - its possible to stand at the base of one of these great spires, and looking up, see the jagged summit pointed directly at your skull. The Ivory Forest The Ivory Forest is a solemn and breathtaking sight for the uninitiated of Shān. This deep valley holds a bewildering array of fossilized bone structures, remnants of the cataclysm that annihilated Shān so long ago. The observant explorer might note that such bones aren't present in many other locations on Shān - the common hypothesis to this mystery is that these aquatic beats, deep within what would have been a vast underwater valley, were still killed by the rapid temperature increase of the annihilation event, yet their skeletal structures were not flash vaporized, instead left to calcify in the cold. The polar winds slice at the exposed frames, honing them to razor edges, rendering them more alien to the eye, their dimensions more monstrous to the mind. Yet were these creatures always so hideous, or has death merely accentuated their final pains and fears, in the arches of their spines and the jaws spread taut? The Belching Seas Near the poles of Shān, the earth deep beneath the ice buckles and cracks like a wound, spilling heat from deep within the planetary core into the subterranean oceans. As this heated water expands, it pushes upwards like some mindless beast, slowly melting away at the icy ceiling above it. Eventually, this compacted, heated water will blast through the permafrost of the surface in great plumes, rocketing high into the meager atmosphere. These cryovolcanoes can be seen from kilometers away, as the Belching Sea slowly disgorges its watery contents onto the cold surface of Shān. Many unfortunates lose their vehicles and cargo as they cross the ‘Sea,’ their craft thrown about like children’s toys from the concussive force of the eruptions, their flesh soaked in searing water that freezes all too quickly. The Hall of Ascendant Kings Surmounting the icy horizon like some aloof deity, the Hall of Ascendant Kings holds the title of the highest peak on Shān, scratching at the heavens with a height of nearly twenty-six kilometers. The edifice itself is riven with gargantuan slabs of quartz that reflect the rays of the sun in odd patterns, riven through with veins of gold that entice artists and miners alike. As of yet, however, the Hall and its surrounding valleys remain somewhat miraculously untouched by the picks and industry of prospectors or settlers. Many hypothesize this is due to the presence of the rumored Laochra Taibhse, a band of fanatical warriors and rogue elements devoted to preserving the Hall. As to whether the Laochra Taibhse actually exist is up to debate, due to the peak’s placement near several conflict zones between Clansmen, prospectors, and refugees alike, making travel to the peak a challenge and deaths in the area a regular occurrence - what difference would one more bullet-ridden body make in such hostile terrain? Culture To live on the Shānite surface is to subject oneself to a world of extremes. The air is frigid while tempers run red-hot and guns are drawn. Life flourishes under the bleak ice, and death is dealt out in spades among the bars and back alleys. What determines the course of life is the rule of iron and strength. Blood guarantees nothing, power is written on the edge of the blade, and every morning carries the unspoken promise of new beginnings - and swift endings. The barren wasteland of Shān truly is a blank slate, and each soul writes their own story. Note on Cannibalism Shān is a world that brings out the most primal aspects of man. Driven to starvation and desperation, cannibalism is an all too unfortunate practice that has been turned from crime into rite by many of Shān’s peoples. The Free Clans, save for the haughty Breuni, fell to their basest due to the lack of resources, and the craving eventually consumed them so that they tore themselves apart on the spurs of the Bone War, smiting the Hatagin for their willing, eager partaking of living human flesh. To this day the Clans still partake in their hungers, though for many it is a ritualistic practice, the consumption of the already-deceased and recycled flesh to enforce lessons of pragmatism. Not so for the Clan Hatagin, some say - sharp cunning and sharper smiles result in many poor travelers never returning once they stray too close to Hatagin lands… Yet, as more poor, bedraggled refugees flood the streets of Shān with every landing vessel, they too are stricken with great hunger. Beggars disappear off the street, the disparaged go missing with not a word - is it any wonder the diseased tend to live the longest when the poor partake in red feasts? Language The languages of Shān are as varied and unique as her people. The tongue of the Free Clans has stabilized into something that Old Earth would recognize as a hybridization of Norse and Arabic, though it has begun adding many borrow words from those newly arrived. Isolated and far from the Imperial Core, the Common of the miner population is different from that of the more recent refugees, showing the age of the learning materials that were brought in by ACRE generations ago. Each refugee community brings with it a scattering of pidgin languages from their home worlds far from Shān, breathing new life into the hodgepodge of language. Transportation Shān is by no means a cosmopolitan world - though many settlements litter its surface, they are separated by desolate tracts of frost and rocky outcroppings. While the views might be considered spectacular by visiting core-worlders, this geographic isolation necessitates efficient and reliable means of transportation between these outposts. For those colonies with no material connection to the outside, the services of a reliable snowcraft might be necessary, their treads grinding through the thin layers of snow atop the crunching permafrost. The outer colonies are overjoyed to see these angular craft mounting the horizon, for most often they are burdened with necessary medicines and goods as scheduled resupply and trade missions from the larger settlements. The Breuni also make use of such craft, though on a far larger scale, as their entire existence is spent in movement. Entire families residing within gargantuan snowcraft, the passing of their caravans never truly fading, carving great gouges in the frost and ice… While the ACRE corporation held sway over the Shānite mining operations, the presiding corporate leadership decided it necessary to begin slamming veins of steel into the planet, a rather impressive feat of engineering given the isolation of the Hild system. Originally, the ACRE grav-train system was only meant to facilitate the mining towns and refineries of their operations, and with the corporation’s departure it was feared this necessary lifeline might be lost. However, thanks to the engineering skill of the Clan Scylfing and various engineers on the run from the core, the system has not only been maintained yet also expanded to the berths of New Montgomery as well. The Hólmavík Line, purportedly named after the original corporate engineer who designed it, provides a quick solution for transportation of raw ores, supplies, and personnel between the urban Montgomery and mining towns such as the infamous Tombwood. It must be noted that with the Vagrant Fleet always having some presence in the skies of Shān, orbital travel is a new surprisingly cheap method of transportation for rapid delivery of goods. Many a colony has been saved from rogue storms and raids by the timely arrival of a Vagrant vessel from the heavens, the disgruntled saviors bundled tight in furs and cloths. The Clans For Main Article, see The Free Clans of Shān The Free Clans of Shān, though just five in number, have managed to shape the planet’s history forevermore, their deeds both legendary and horrifying leaving a lasting echo in the caverns and foothills of the ice world. Some may call them uncultured, others atrocious, yet this is in ignorance of their deep-set cultural history and wisdom in many matters, passed down through oral tradition, from father to son. The Miners Most of the ex-ACRE mining population are descended from previous generations of ACRE miners of Shānite resources. A tough and hardy people, there is little that physically separates them from the Clans, and the gruff miners believe they are just as much natives of the world as those barbarians. Industrious and pragmatic, they forge productive societies from the rock of Shān, reminders of worlds far away and a civilization that only now comes to the icy world on the backs of refugees and in the words of free thinkers. Boots on ice and rifles in hand, these are a people of the frontier. The homesteads and communities they have forged from the thin air and the hardy ground will not be so easily taken from them, carved and shorn like gemstones through generations of conflict, famine, and isolation. These are a people who have labored through their darkest hours and now see the first glimmer of a brighter future, one where they need no longer eke out a living and can truly thrive under the arctic sun. The Refugees The barren rock that is Shān might very well be eroding under the seething tides of humanity that land upon the surface with every passing day. Clad in rags, they step off the gangplanks toward uncertain futures in the seething underbellies of Shān’s havens. To stem the human wave is folly - there will always be pilots and ferrymen willing to spirit these bedraggled souls away from their homes for whatever meager funds they still possess. Yet these are a hopeful people, a caste that claws its way through dust and ice to new beginnings. These are an innovative people, bringing new minds to Shān’s advancement, new hands to work at her veins of ore and build cities upon her skin. These are the bane and blessing of this rimworld, forever choking her streets yet helping build up a civilization around themselves, raising up steel headstones from the mass graves of their fallen. The Legend of the Lost House Three Clans, the Scylfing, the Abbasid, and the Hatagin argue and claim ownership over the tale, which until some 40-60 years ago, was regarded as little more than an interesting story to be told at camp. The story starts with the early years of the 100 years of darkness (note, we should come up with a name for this period. It's a big deal) that encompassed the fullness of the guerrilla war of survival with the A.C.R.E. Corporation. Clans were split into smaller, ever-moving enclaves, the better not to be wiped out. During one relocation, one of these groups stumbled across the remains of some ancient derelict starship, buried beneath ice and rubble, accessed only through one of the many winding tunnels that web the whole of Shān. Here they found refuge and safety from Corporate mercenaries and all manner of chemical and biological warfare. Eventually they moved on, driven by a hunger for food, but the safety they found would always remain a treasured memory, to be passed on. 92 years ago, a rescued Coreworlder put these camp stories together, and added the details up to come to the conclusion that what had been stumbled upon were the remains of one of the great Colony Ships that had brought humanity to Acheron Rho from ancient Earth. Something must have failed, and seen the ship crashed onto Shān. 24 years later a young woman emerged from the Breuni Convoys, claiming to have seen and been to the site of the Colony Ship. More than this, they claimed they had proof that the Clans had come from it. That it had borne them from the stars and given them shelter from A.C.R.E. Unfortunately, she was killed and eaten by several Hatagin that heard her speak before she could gain much of a movement and lead the Clans back to the ship. Her death, however, sparked a fire that would encompass a small but devout group - mostly Clan, but some other disenfranchised native Shānites- who believe that they are the descendants of a lost House. Many more believe the whole thing is nothing but a story, or worse, some hoax. However, there are a few who hold treasured relics that to them prove the story true. Small tokens that bear the symbol of the Swordfish, they say. To them, these trinkets are enough to say something is out there in the ice. The Search For Dorado Every Spring when the permafrost thaws in the taigas of the Clan Lands, several groups of intrepid young adults venture from the holds, taking part in a coming of age event that has almost become tradition it is so widespread. They seek sign of the storied crash. A new tunnel revealed by shifted land. Wreckage uncovered from melted ice. Thus far, no sign has been found. The Imperial Fiefdom Coming Soon! Micro-Fiefs, the King of Shān, taxes and tax havens. The Imperial Consulate. Major Exports Mining Minerals & Metals It was barely an exaggeration when the late Director Montgomery claimed that Shān “held thousands of vessels in her crust alone, waiting to be claimed.” The deposits of metals in the planetoid, most of which are useful in the process of starship construction, have been mined for centuries on end, yet the veins do not fire and the wealth continues to flow from drill and forge alike. One can only imagine the dire effects on Shān’s place in the sector when these grand veins of glistening metal are eventually bled dry by greedy hands, some time in the distant future. Yet this icy tomb is not merely a cornucopia of basic metals and materials. Found within the hearts of Shān’s proliferous mountain ranges lie a series of rare radioactive isotopes commonly utilized in nuclear mining warheads for increased payload effectiveness. These isotopes had many names among the miners who dragged from from the frosty depths - “Ashen Shards” and “One Week Killer” being the most descriptive of the varied colloquialisms. The ACRE Corporation harvested these isotopes and put them to use in blasting apart asteroids in Shān’s orbit for further material gains, whittling the planetary supplies of these “hot minerals” to a minuscule amount, barely detectable by the naked eye where once large veins stood proud. Now, mining communities desperately scrape at these remaining vestiges of radioactive wealth, as House Fornax has found a new use for such isotopes in the development and fueling of improved spike drive designs. Chemicals Far below the surface in the tunnels and caverns beneath Shān's crust, an explorer may find reservoirs of opaque, milky white liquid dripping from the walls or collected in large subterranean pools. Heavy metals rich in sulphites formed during the cataclysm that tore Shān's idyllic water world asunder, these are no normal liquids. In fact, such materials can be commonly recognized as a variant of “liquid metal.” When ionized, these metals can be quickly formed into specific patterns and forms, allowing for universal applicability in engineering projects. The primary issue in utilizing such materials is extraction from their isolated caverns and cisterns deep below the frosty stone of the surface. Smoothie's Algae Beer With the harsh environment of Shān breeding an army of industrious warrior Clans, one might not be surprised that even her stills and dive bars are similarly intense in their productions. Never ones to waste anything that could provide nutrients, the alcoholic beverage commonly known as Smoothie's Algae Beer came to pass - made from the residue of algae goop collected from the hydroponics tanks, it contains all the protein, vitamins, and carbs of your grandma's best turkey dinner, plus 15 percent alcohol. No one's quite sure who came to the idea first, but Smoothie's is one of the few staple products made on Shān not mined from it, to leave the world. Many foreigners hold a particular disdain for Smoothie's due to its propensity to contain solidified chewy chunks, unsure if the crafter who thought Smoothie's up was some sadist or lunatic, or possibly both for inflicting it on the Sector. The people of Shān, conversely, are vivid supporters of the chunk, often heckling outsiders for their queasiness when presented with the powerful algae alcohol. The makeup of the chunks is unknown, and it may be in one's best interest to leave that particular knowledge undiscovered. Trained Labor On the rim of the sector, surrounded by technologically regressed worlds inhabited by billions, the trade of forced labor wheels its way through the streets of Shān. The space routes between Hallger, Pierus XXIII, and Shān, commonly referred to as the Manacled Path, are proliferated by vessels carrying the signature red diamond motif of slavers sectorwide. These vagabonds extort and deal in weapons with the local leaders of isolated worlds, exchanging postech weaponry and luxuries for human cargo. This is not to say that the peoples of Shān, often liberated serfs themselves, are all too supportive of the practice - radical groups such as the Rijal Aljabal (commonly known as The Mountain Men) can often be found raiding slaver markets with clubs and stones when not extolling the evils of the trade from pulpits in dive bars. It must also be known that these slavers find a killing business in the ‘rescue’ of stranded travelers in the depths of space. Woe to those captured from the hulk of their once-vessel, destined to likely never see their core world home again. Planetary Tags Freak Geology The geology or geography of this world is simply freakish. Perhaps it's composed entirely of enormous mountain ranges, or regular bands of land and sea, or the mineral structures all fragment into perfect cubes. The locals have learned to deal with it and their culture will be shaped by its requirements. Enemies: * Crank xenogeologist * Cultist who believes it's the work of aliens Friends: * Research scientist * Prospector * Artist Complications: * Local conditions that no one remembers to tell offworlders about * Lethal weather * Seismic activity Things: * Unique crystal formations * Hidden veins of a major precious mineral strike * Deed to a location of great natural beauty Places: * Atop a bizarrre geological formation * Tourist resort catering to offworlders Revanchists The locals formerly owned another world, or a major nation on the planet formerly owned an additional region of land. Something happened to take away this control or drive out the former rulers, and they've never forgotten it. The locals are obsessed with reclaiming their lost lands, and will allow no questions of practicality to interfere with their cause. Enemies: * Demagogue whipping the locals on to a hopeless war * Politician seeking to use the resentment for their own ends * Local convinced the pcs are agents of the "thieving" power * Refugee from the land bitterly demanding it be reclaimed Friends: * Realist local clergy seeking peace * Olitician trying to calm the public * Third-party diplomat trying to stamp out the fire Complications: * The revanchists' claim is completely just and reasonable * The land is now occupied entirely by heirs of the conquerors * Both sides have seized lands the other thinks are theirs Things: * Stock of vital resource produced by the taken land * Relic carried out of it * Proof that the land claim is justified or unjustified Places: * Memorial monument to the loss * Cemetery of those who died in the conquest * Public ceremony commemorating the disaster Category:Planets Category:Hild Category:Shān Category:Vagrant